


One of A Thousand Tales

by Rin_the_Shadow



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: AU, Anti-Mutant Sentiments (Marvel), F/M, Gen, Inspired by Aladdin, Kurt Wagner is a Sweetheart, Let the X-Men Be Happy 2018, Let the X-Men Be Happy 2k18, Let the X-Men Be Happy 2k19, Logan is a Badass Papa Wolf, Logan is a good bro, Mutants, Ororo is Bomb, Ororo is a Good Bro, Pietro is a good bro, Possible Allusions to PTSD, Running Away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-04-26 16:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14406408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: At the end of the day, they existed in two separate worlds. She was a thief who’d stolen over from her village in Africa, and he was a dead prince who’d never seen the outside world. But maybe those two worlds could cross for a moment.An Aladdin-inspired AU of X-Men, heavily focusing on Nightcrawler and Storm. Borrows elements from both movie timelines, as well as the comics.





	1. A Jump or a Jaunt Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> This prompt was given to me by a friend while I struggled with writer's block last semester. It was such a fun idea and offered so many things to play with, how could I refuse?
> 
> I've gone something of a fairy tale route here, in that the place that exists is kind of in Germany but not a real Germany. In any event, I hope you will enjoy it.

How an African priestess could have ended up in Germany was beyond her. But that meant the network of assassins who’d been tailing her probably wouldn’t think to look for her here either. Probably. But then the thought of those men and the _lies_ they had fed her people, the lies they were most likely _still_ feeding her people, sprang into her mind and she had to bite back a growl. She could never go back _home_ because of them.

            Already, she’d been here long enough to start picking up on the language, to have an idea of where she could steal food from, where she could hide, and where people wouldn’t bother her while she slept. Well, if that was the way things were going to be, she might as well make the best of it.

            And right now, the best of it looked like food from the lazily run corner fruit stand. She’d been there a few times before. The vendor was a middle-aged man who’d gotten a bit too comfortable with the neighborhood, and so he tended to be a bit lax. Time it right, and you could just walk right up and take what you wanted, and he’d never notice. All the better, since using her powers was more likely than not to bite her in the ass. The trick was not letting her adrenaline get up.

            She stood and walked over. Or at least, that’s what would have happened had a cloaked figure not barreled into her and knocked her flat. She sat up, ready to give her assailant a piece of her mind, but in that instant, they were gone. In that same instant, they were somewhere else. Her insides felt like they’d been turned inside out, or maybe she’d violently thrown up on the inside.

            Still reeling from the sudden jaunt, she snapped at the cloaked figure, “Just what the hell did you--!”

            “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He skittered back, frantically waving his hands in front of him. “I don’t have a hang of it yet! I didn’t mean to take you with me!”

            Something seemed off about this mugger. She studied him for a moment before cutting him off. “Hey,” she said. “What’s your deal, anyway?”

            He paused, still ducking under his cloak. “What?”

            “You know,” she jerked her head in his direction. “For a mugger, you’re pretty jumpy. And…kinda bad at picking targets.”

            “Oh…” He curled in a little. “I’m not here to…um…mug you.” He paused. “It’s just that I’ve never really been…outside…before. And I forgot to bring something to eat but when I tried to get something the store owner freaked out and so I ran and then….”

            She couldn’t see him below the cloak, but… “Hey, what do you mean, first time outside?”

            “Oh…” He seemed to be trying to curl himself into the smallest ball possible. “Because I’m…and people don’t really like…And you might be very disturbed if you could see…”

            He reached up to pull the hood further down over his face. She caught a glimpse of…blue?

            “Try me.” She dared, sitting up straighter.

            Slowly, his hands moved back up to the hood. Yep. Definitely blue. But they stopped there and began to shake. “I…can’t.”

            She leaned over. “Sure you can. Here.” And in a snap, she pulled the hood from his face. A flash of realization shot through her. “Oh.”

            The boy had also frozen the moment she removed his hood, staring at her with eyes wide and mouth gaping. His skin was a deep blue patterned with symbols—she couldn’t tell if they were natural or not—and his eyes were a bright, faintly glowing yellow. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to remove the hood.

            She swallowed, then asked, “No one hurt you, right?”

            He blinked. “What?”  
            “You know, before you…” she waved her hands at their new location. “You were pretty shaken up. You weren’t…Nobody had done anything to you, right?”

            “Oh…no.” He paused. “Not yet?”

            “Then _what were you thinking_?” she hissed. “First of all, you gotta have money to take stuff from the shops. Even I don’t go for places I have to go inside—yet—but that’s beside the point. And second—more importantly—don’t you know what it’s like for mutants right now?”

            He started to open his mouth, but she held up her hand. “No. You were hiding from me. I’m sure you do. So then why would you just teleport like that in public?” She smacked her forehead as the realization hit her. “Gaah! I’m not gonna be able to go back there for weeks, now everyone’ll be on the lookout for thieves…”

            “Ah…” He seemed unsure of which part of her rant to address first. “I’m…sorry. I just started teleporting earlier this week, so…I’m not very good at it and sometimes it just…happens? But, um…” he paused. “Wait, are you a thief?”

            She was tempted to ask if water was wet, but… “Yeah. For a few weeks now.”

            “Oh.” Another pause. “You aren’t afraid of me.” It was more of a statement than a question.

            “Yeah, well…” She held up her hand and a sudden breeze looped through her fingers.

            His bewildered expression transformed into a wide smile. “You…you’re like me?”

            “A little, yeah.” She smiled. “I take it you’re not from around here?”

            “Oh!” He rubbed a three-fingered hand against the back of his neck. “No, I’m…I’ve never been outside the palace before today…”

            She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, back up. What?”

            “Huh?”

            “This palace thing. You can’t mean you’re…”

            “Ah. Yes…um…I’m Kurt.” He offered her a hand. “Kurt Wagner. I come from the Munich Palace, but I’m not supposed to go outside, and not many people know I survived infancy…”

            “So you’re the prince here?”

            “…Yes..?” He hesitated. “But I don’t need you to, um, bow or anything.” He shifted, curling his tail—she hadn’t realized he had a tail—around his legs. “Anyway, what’s your name?”

            Her lip quirked into a half-smile. “Ororo. I’m not exactly from around here myself.”

            His head tilted slightly. “Oh?”

            Crap. That was a lot more info than she was ready to give right now. “Heh…” she recovered, “It’s a long story.” Ororo pushed off her knees and stood up. “Anyway, it’s your first time out, right? I can’t exactly give you the full tour—especially not with the officers on high alert—” Kurt had the decency to look sheepish “—But I can at least show you more than what you’ve seen.”

            Kurt perked up almost instantly, hopping up beside her and pulling his hood back over his face. “Okay, let’s go!”

            She shook her head, a smile threatening to break out over her lips. She wasn’t even sure why she was doing this. At the end of the day, they existed in two separate worlds. She was a thief who’d stolen over from her village in Africa, and he was a dead prince who’d never seen the outside world. But maybe those two worlds could cross for a moment.


	2. A World Not Mine or Yours

Kurt was fascinated with everything. He’d stare at everything she pointed out to him, no matter how mundane. If he saw something she didn’t explain, he would tug on her arm and whisper, “Ororo! Ororo! What is that?” Sometimes a simple name wasn’t enough, and his head would tilt slightly. There was so much he had never been told.

            She showed him the back alleys and side streets she used to slip around unnoticed in her thieving. Though a part of her was hoping he would be afraid and want to leave, an even smaller part of her was afraid he _would_ be. There were criminals much worse than herself prowling in some of these parts, and were it not for her mutation, she wasn’t sure she would come here as often as she did. Kurt’s grip on her arm tightened, but when he leaned in to whisper to her, it wasn’t the plea to go back she expected. “Wow! You know so much about this city!” She wasn’t sure if he was genuinely this naïve or just awkwardly trying to compliment her.

            They tended to avoid the busier streets. Not only did Ororo want to steer clear of attracting attention from the law, but she noticed Kurt didn’t seem particularly comfortable out in the open. He would duck into her and pull his hood closer over his face. She couldn’t tell with the cloak covering most of his body, but she was almost certain his tail was curling around his leg again. But Ororo had much more interesting, much less crowded places to show.

            “Hey,” she whispered. “Want to see the ruins?”

            “You mean the old garden palace?” his eyes widened.

            Ororo’s eyebrow quirked upwards. “You know about that?”

            “Oh, yes. I’ve read all about it, but I was never able to go. My guardians say it is too dangerous, even with a disguise.” He was practically bouncing up and down. “ _Can_ we go?”

            “Come on…” She laced her fingers through his, trying to wind her five fingers around his three.

            However, when they reached the crumbling wall, they stalled, Kurt starting as if to hide behind Ororo, then thinking better of it. Five uniformed guards patrolled the entrance, reporting back to a sixth who was a bit shorter and stockier than the rest. He kept tugging on the collar of his uniform and grimacing.

            “Oh, no…” Kurt whispered. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no…”

            “What’s wrong?” she asked, as if she didn’t already know.

            “Of course they would look for me here once they realized…”

            Ororo’s gaze steeled. “You ready to run?”

            But just as he’d nodded, the sixth man met their eyes. The guard he was speaking to looked up a second after. “ _Stop right there_!”

            Ororo was prepared to bolt, but she heard a resigned sigh beside her. Kurt took a step forward, shoulders squaring and posture straightening.

            “Are you crazy?” she hissed. “You know what it’s like for mutants right now!”

            He turned back, giving her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “They won’t kill me.”

            He stepped forward and pulled back the hood for a moment before setting it back in is place. The sixth man’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and he advanced.

            Ororo felt electricity building in her fingertips as her mind adjusted for Kurt’s proximity. Just as she prepared to strike, the man clapped his hand over Kurt’s shoulder, muttering something she had to strain to hear.

            “Kid, you’ve got to be one of the ballsiest little squirts I’ve known.” And then, addressing the guards, he said, “All right. Let’s clear out.”

            They missed Ororo, who had ducked behind a large tree. She watched as they marched away, paying close attention to the sixth man and Kurt. The older man kept a hand carefully draped across his back, almost as if he was putting himself between Kurt and the guards. So then he must have been one of the few who knew Kurt was a mutant. She wondered what the others thought. Did they know that the prince had survived infancy, but not that he was blue? Or did they know and just not like it?

            She shook her head. Well, that was that, wasn’t it? She’d go back to hiding and thieving. He’d go back to…whatever a dead mutant prince did. Except it wouldn’t be like that, would it? They’d seen the other side, and could never go back to pretending otherwise.

            Ororo huffed. Well, it wasn’t like she wanted to live forever anyway.


	3. In Safety or Seclusion

           Back behind the shelter of the palace walls, the patrol guards dismissed and the cloak discarded, Kurt kept an even pace as Logan lectured him about the stunt he’d pulled. “Kid, I get where you’re coming from. Believe me, if I had to stay cooped up here all the time, I don’t even want to think about what I’d do. But unless Chancellor Kelley changes his mind or… _resigns_ , it’s not safe for you to be out alone.”

            Logan spoke in deliberate, measured tones, as if he were giving a rehearsed speech. Where Kurt had thrown away the cloak upon entering, Logan had undone the top three buttons of his uniform’s high collar. The lecture he’d just given was a little like those buttons, Kurt thought. A sort of formality.

            “I know that…” Kurt let his gaze drop to the floor. “But…how long will that be? I can’t stay here waiting, and besides that…”

            He hesitated, chewing his lip and winding his tail around his calf.

            “Thinking about the girl?” Kurt’s head snapped up. “Yeah, didn’t think I caught that, did you?”

            “She’s not from around here, but she’s…like me, sort of. She wouldn’t say where she was from, but I think…” Should he mention that he thought she’d been forced to flee her home?

            “And now you’re worried about her.” He shook his head, muttering something that might have been, “These damn kids,” and continued. “She’ll be fine. If she’s slipped under Chancellor Kelley’s radar this long, she can take care of herself.” That said, he’d keep an eye open for any mutant prisoners that were brought in.

            He waited until they had passed into a more secluded hallway before telling him, “But look, kid. If you end up needing out again, talk to me first. I can at least keep you from getting snatched up by the wrong guys. And if they think I’m with you, it’ll be longer before they start looking.”

            Kurt stopped in his tracks, gawking for several moments before responding, “But if anyone asks, I didn’t hear it from you, right?” A slow smile crept onto his face.

            Logan shook his head, suppressing a grin of his own. “Sure, kid.”

            Gratitude radiated from the boy in waves as his eyes widened and he reached for Logan’s hands. He’d never been much for contact himself, but several members of the palace staff still refused to touch Kurt. He knew it affected the kid, so he forced himself to keep steady as gratitude after gratitude tumbled out. “Thank you so very much for everything!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've absolutely loved Logan and Kurt's friendship in the comics, and I've mentioned in another fic that it's something I missed in the movies. It's been a bit of a challenge for me, because there is the added aspect of a more visible age gap, and how that changes things. But I greatly enjoy writing interactions between these two.


	4. Swiftness and Stealth

            That night, Ororo scoped out the area. It would be easy enough for her to slip in—the guards marched along the same pathways over and over. The tricky part would be finding Kurt and getting him out unnoticed. Of course, he could always teleport them out, but he’d told her he didn’t have a hang of it yet. So that was probably out. And then she’d have to figure out where to take him once they’d left.

            She swore under her breath. She probably should have left things alone. But then, this was precisely why she couldn’t. When the enemies of the chief priest had spread dissent among her people, she had fled without doing anything. Now she saw Chancellor Kelley doing the same and Kurt trapped in the palace, his shoulders drooping as he was led back. Not to mention this nagging feeling she had that if their positions were reversed…

            “Hey,” a young voice chirped next to her. “Breaking into the palace?”

            Ororo whipped around, ready to blast the guy if need be, but more curious as to how he’d gotten so close without her noticing. If this meant trouble…

            The young man was barely more than a boy himself, if she ignored the tangle of silver hair. The way his clothes were patched here and there, he probably wasn’t a guard or an officer. Then again, that didn’t rule out the possibility—

            “Well, are you?” Suddenly, he was behind her, though she never saw him move. “Not a good idea from here.” He reappeared a little farther away. “You want to go in from the other side. Or maybe this way’s more fun for you.” A shrug. “I dunno. So why are you breaking in?”

            She felt her eyebrows climbing. “I’m not sure if that’s any of your business.”

            “Oh.” His shoulders sagged for about two seconds. “Well, could you tell me anyway? Wait—are you a mutant? You’re probably a mutant. Otherwise you wouldn’t have white hair at your age. I probably shouldn’t ask that the way things are now. But you are, aren’t you?”

            Ororo stood gawking. This guy could not be for real. The only explanation was that she’d tried to break in and had fallen. “Look,” she finally said, “I’m not doing this just for the hell of it or whatever. There’s someone in there and I need to get him out.”

            He perked up. “So are we talking jailbreak or sabotage?”

            Okay. She could work with this. “I think we’re talking give me a name first.”

            He gave a light laugh. “Okay, fair enough. I’m Peter.” He gestured with his hands as if to say, “And you?”

            “Ororo.” She figured it was only fair.

            “So. Jailbreak or sabotage?”


	5. St. Jude's Window

            Logan stood guard outside the chapel while Kurt and the priest—wasn’t his name Father Dietrich or something?—sat hunched over the a worn and faded Bible. The old man was one of the last people Logan would’ve pegged as the type to look out for a mutant, let alone one who looked like Kurt. He didn’t see it himself, but he’d heard the whispers and he’d been just outside of the room when a caretaker had snapped at him not to be seen from the windows, lest he be hunted for a demon. Figured the kid would then sneak into the chapel. The first time Logan had found him there, he’d felt his insides clench. He’d steeled his resolve and marched in, but all threats of, “If I ever catch you screwing with that boy’s mind again…” died the moment the priest looked up and smiled.

            “Ah, you must be Logan. Kurt’s told me so much about you. Allow me to extend my gratitude to you for taking such good care of him.”

            Logan had given a muffled grunt in response before sneaking a glance at Kurt to confirm it. He’d said nothing in the moment, but Logan had gotten a far more thorough lesson on religion in that next week than he had in probably his entire life up until that point. Some of the servants had mumbled things like, “Is it really okay for _him_ to be learning that?” But he figured if the worst that came of it was getting an earful from the kid each week, it couldn’t hurt that much.

            And so there they were. Logan popped his knuckles and rolled his neck. Maybe he was being paranoid. Even _he_ couldn’t imagine who would have the nerve to attack the kid with the old man present, let alone in the chapel with the stained-glass figures bearing down on them. But then again, people usually _couldn’t_ imagine it before it happened.

            Besides, they’d be finishing up before long. Though he didn’t _really_ think the old man would leave Kurt by himself, it put Logan at ease to pick him up as soon as possible. Not that he’d admit that if anyone asked. Besides, it was good for Kurt to have that consistency.

            And like clockwork, the kid came skipping out the chapel doors. Logan felt himself fighting not to let him see the tension that released from his shoulders.

            “You ready?” Logan asked.

            Kurt nodded. But as they headed back, and before Kurt could get too excited about today’s lesson, Logan heard a soft _clink-clink_. Following the sound, his gaze trailed down to a string of beads wrapped around Kurt’s wrist.

            “Well,” he observed, lifting Kurt’s hand to get a better look, “this is new.”

            Kurt’s eyes widened. “Oh, this? Father Dietrich found it for me after last week. He said he’d noticed I had a hard time holding the beads when I pray, and he thought this one might be easier for me.”

            Sure. That made sense. The beads of this rosary _were_ a bit bigger and farther apart than average. It wasn’t as ornate as some he’d seen, but that would do just fine for Kurt.

* * *

 

            He’d ended up talking right up until Logan dropped him off in his quarters, offering a light tousle of the hair and a murmured, “Get some sleep, okay kid?”

            Kurt was just pulling back the sheet to climb into bed when he felt a sudden _thwip_ of the air beside him. He jumped, biting his tongue to keep from crying out. If he was in danger, Logan would find out soon enough—even halfway down the hall, he always seemed to know if something was wrong. So in the meantime, his priority was not provoking the intruder, maybe sneaking out if he thought he could get past without—

            “Hey, did you know your eyes are glowing?”

            He spun around to face the intruder. He probably didn’t expect Kurt to be able to see him in the dark, but it was a part of his mutation he was extremely grateful for. Especially now.

            But the intruder was not what he would’ve expected. He was wearing a guard’s uniform, but he didn’t look that much older than Kurt. Maybe a few years, enough that he would’ve been in a different play group if they’d grown up together. But probably not much more than that.

            “But seriously,” the man repeated. “Your eyes are glowing. That’s cool. Not sure if you noticed.”

            If this man was some kind of assassin, he was terribly casual about it. But if he was actually palace staff, which Kurt doubted, he found it more than a little unnerving that he’d just come into his room at night. Of course, he probably would’ve found it unnerving anyway, but still.

            He narrowed his eyes, pushing himself back so he could spring off the headboard if need be. The man seemed to notice this. He held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. “Woah, woah, woah—don’t freak out. I’m not here to hurt you or anything. Your girlfriend sent me.”

            Kurt’s head tilted to one side. “What?”

            “Y’know,” he gestured, “’bout yea high, white hair, wants to bust you outta the palace and could probably zap everyone with lightning if she really wanted. Ororo? I mean, she didn’t _say_ girlfriend. That was just my impression.”

            From his tone, Kurt got the sense this was actually a pretty strong impression. Not that he would want to argue with it, but after all, he barely knew her. Even with his sheltered upbringing, Kurt was pretty sure one day was just a _little_ too fast for that.

            “But,” Kurt finally worked up the nerve to respond, “if she sent you, then where is she?”

            A spike of panic shot up in him as he realized her sending this boy meant she very well could have been captured.

            “Mm…probably not too far out of this room. Twenty feet down, maybe.” Kurt let himself relax at that, so he continued. “I’m just here to distract and cause general mayhem.”  
            Kurt’s eyes shot open. “ _What?_ ”

            “Well, not tonight. That’s more of a last resort? Yeah, she wanted to get you out quietly tonight. So actually I’m just here to be the lump in your bed in case someone peeks in, which,” he sucked a breath in through his teeth, “I gotta tell you— _not_ really my strong suit. But I got this uniform out of it, so…” He shrugged.

            Maybe Kurt had fallen asleep and was dreaming up this whole conversation. “Huh.”

            “Oh, by the way, I’m Peter. Probably should have mentioned that first, actually.” He held out a hand, which Kurt had to think before reaching for.

            “I’m Kurt…” He wasn’t sure whether or not he should smile.

            Peter gave his hand a shake, grinning back at him. “So. You want any help getting down?”

            “From the bed?” Kurt blinked.

            “From the window,” Peter corrected.

            “I’m going out the window?”  
            “Wasn’t that how you got out the first time? I guess I kinda assumed, but—”

            “Kind of?” Kurt had made it partway down before his cloak had snagged and when he reached to free it, he’d accidentally teleported.

            “Didja fall?” Peter’s grin turned cheeky. “You know if you’re scared she’d be happy to catch you.”

            Kurt had to fight not to bury his face in his hands. It was the only way Peter would know he was blushing in the dark.

            “Okay,” he finally forced himself to say. “I would like to see her.” He crawled across the bed and headed towards the window. Almost an instant later, Peter was behind him, though he never saw him move.

            He reached to lift the younger mutant onto the window sill and Kurt jumped, eyes going wide. “Sorry,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not used to getting help with things.” Logan thought it was important for him to learn to do things himself, not that Kurt doubted he could ask for help if he needed it.

            “Oh. Okay. That’s cool,” Peter shrugged. “Hey!”

            Kurt turned back from the window he’d opened, head tilting in silent question.

            “Do you sleep through the night or should I get up and make some noise every now and then?”

            “I’m…not sure?” Was it strange that he had never paid attention before?

            “Gotcha. I’ll figure it out.”

            Kurt swallowed hard against a budding sense of dread, then swung his legs over the edge, peering down. Sure enough, Ororo was there. Kurt smiled and started to climb down, hands and feet easily navigating the stones.

            But then, to his surprise, she floated up partway, holding out her arms as if to say, “Jump! I’ll catch you!” He could see Peter above him, grinning in a way that blatantly egged him to do it. Oh, God in heaven, if he was wrong…

            He closed his eyes and pushed off. Deceptively slender arms caught him and pulled him against her. On reflex, he wrapped around her, arms, legs, and tail before realizing that maybe he shouldn’t cling. But then her hands came up over his back and she floated them both over the wall with a final mock salute in Peter’s direction.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The character of Father Dietrich is based on a combination of the character of the same name from BlueFrodo's "Even Angels Have Scars" and the archdeacon from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I wanted to include him because I thought it was important to have at least one supportive figure in Kurt's life besides Logan, especially since I can't really see Logan teaching Kurt about Catholicism.


	6. In a Whole New World

            “So,” she asked him once they were safely out from the shadow of the palace. “Still want to check out the ruins?”

            “ _Right now_?”

            “Well,” she shrugged. “You’re out now. Nobody’ll be looking for you just yet. Seems like as good a time as any to me.”

            Kurt felt his tail twining around his calf as he considered it. On one hand, he wanted so very much to see the garden ruins with Ororo. It had been devastating to lose the opportunity before. And she was right. No one would be looking for him.

            On the other hand, what if Logan realized something was wrong? What if he came into his room to investigate? Unlike some of the others, he wouldn’t be fooled by Peter’s lump-in-the-bed trick. And the guard uniform might just make things even worse.

            And what would happen if he wasn’t back by morning? Well, Peter being the lump _probably_ meant this was just for tonight. But maybe he would ask Ororo, just to be sure. Maybe only if it looked like they would be late.

            “Yes,” he finally spoke. “I would like to see them with you.”

            She wound her fingers through his, pointedly ignoring her fumbles with their differences. “All right then. Let’s go.”

            She couldn’t risk taking him through the city at night. She was all too familiar with the way the darkness emboldened the criminal element—both outside law and within it. With Kurt’s visible mutations and obvious unfamiliarity with that world, he’d be marked in a heartbeat. He seemed to realize this too, keeping quiet and keeping close.

            Skirting around the edges of the city might have cost them a little time. Ororo wasn’t sure. But when they reached the ruins, Kurt’s face positively lit up. His grip on her arm loosened and he stepped forward, testing the ground before stepping down, just in case there were thorns or pieces of broken glass. But the way his tail twitched tentatively behind him, it was almost as though he had become shy of the garden itself.

            Ororo smiled and walked slightly ahead of him. “Hey,” she turned and held out her hand. “It’s okay.”

            He nodded and took the offered hand. “It’s beautiful,” he whispered.

            Ororo hummed in agreement. “Yeah. They kinda let the place go, so I’ve heard, but…”

            “I like it better this way,” Kurt blurted, then clamped his mouth shut as though he’d just done something wrong.

            “Yeah?” She realized he’d probably seen drawings of its former state. “Me too.”

            Ororo wasn’t sure what some of the plants were—she hadn’t had the luxury of attention to anything not necessary for survival in a long time. But Kurt was more than happy to point out any of the ones he knew. There were still some he didn’t recognize, and others he wasn’t completely sure of, but he was still more than happy to talk about them.

            It turned out the darkness didn’t just embolden the criminal element. Kurt had almost become a different person from before—still wide-eyed and full of wonder but his expression was much more open and his body language much more expressive. His tail especially, now that it was no longer curled about his leg. It lashed about freely, even playfully tapping Ororo on the shoulder as its owner looked off a little _too_ innocently. He giggled as she playfully swatted it away.

            Then suddenly, he averted his gaze, winding his fingers around his tail and biting at his lip.

            Ororo’s eyebrows raised in concern. “You okay?”

            “Hm? Oh…” His eyes averted again. “Yes, I was just wondering if…” He swallowed. “If you would like to dance?”

            Her head cocked just slightly. “O-of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just…”

            “No, I’d like to, I just…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t dance.”

            “Oh…”

            “I never learned.” She shrugged.

            “Oh, I…” He started to walk towards her, then stopped himself. It was better to ask before overstepping. “I could show you, if you want.”

            She watched him for a moment, studying his hopeful eyes and apprehensive fidgeting with his tail. There was no sense of wanting to feel superior. This was simply something he wanted to give to her.

            “Okay,” she finally said.

            Kurt approached cautiously, taking her hands in his with an unexpected grace—though she wasn’t sure why it was unexpected at this point.

            “This hand…I’m going to put this hand on your waist, and you put yours on my shoulder. And then these hands can stay together like this.” He explained slowly, making sure he got it right.

            “I’ll step forward, and you step back with the foot that matches mine…” She mirrored his steps, her own natural grace coming to match his.

            Turning was more difficult, and Kurt admitted he found it easier to lead by stepping back and letting her feel him pull her than by trying to move into her space. But as she got the hang of it, she couldn’t resist pulling a little sharply and letting him stumble into her with a startled squeak.

            “If you prefer to do it that way…” He started to offer.

            “I’m just messing with you,” she responded with a wink.

            “Ah.” He looked away for a second. “Of course.”

            “So how did you learn to dance like this?” She didn’t want to mention it specifically, but she had seen the way the sixth man—Logan, Kurt had called him—had kept between him and the others. But maybe there was someone else who would…

            “Oh,” Kurt smiled. “Logan taught me.” He bit back laughter at the memory. “You see, he had to do the woman’s part because…” He swallowed slightly. _Because no one else wanted to teach me_. Oh. He hadn’t meant to come to that part. It was supposed to be a funny memory, Logan grumbling as he tried to step backwards, Kurt offering to be the woman instead, and Logan brushing him off with a, “Nah, kid. You’re the one who wants to learn this stuff. I got no need to do the man’s part.” He wasn’t supposed to come to the reason for it.

            Ororo caught the sudden change in demeanor. She hadn’t wanted to make him depressed. “He’s a little tall for that, isn’t he?” she teased.

            Kurt smiled, but it only hallway reached his eyes.

            “Hey,” she said. “You’re a beautiful dancer.” She felt a slight change in the temperature. He was probably blushing.

            He would end up blushing a lot more before the night was over. Kurt had surprised her with the impromptu dance lesson, and now she would return the favor. She called the winds to them, bending them to swirl around and lift them up from the ground.

            Kurt gasped, “Ororo, are _you_ doing this?”

            She just smiled and lifted them higher.

            “Ororo, this is amazing!” he beamed, whooping with laughter as they wove through the currents.

            “It’s not the first time,” she shrugged.

            “Yes,” he remembered the palace walls, too. “But that was so fast I could hardly make sense of it all! But this—a whole dance in the clouds, I can hardly believe…”

            He blinked hard and fast against the joyful tears that threatened to spill over. All this—just for him. _Thank you, St. Jude, for this window…_

            “Hey, you’re okay.” Ororo moved to brush his cheek.

            “Yes,” he agreed. “I am better than okay. Thank you so much for this…”

            Hardly thinking, she pulled him into a hug, to which he clung fiercely as they continued their loop in the sky. She had never considered herself a touchy person, but this was not uncomfortable to her.

* * *

 

            It seemed like an eternity before either would let go. When they finally drifted back down to the ground, they held on for a few moments longer before they managed to uncurl from each other. They found their way to a slightly moss-covered bench and sat down.

            For the longest time, they sat in silence, staring up at the moon and stars. Kurt’s tail gave an occasional twitch.

            Finally, Ororo sighed. “Where would you go?”

            “Hm?” Kurt turned to look at her.

            “If you could get out, you know, go anywhere you wanted, where would you go?”

            “Oh…” Kurt had to think about that one. “Hm…I don’t know.”

            “You’ve never thought about it?” Ororo cocked a brow.

            “I have,” he insisted. “I’ve just never been able to decide.”

            “Mm.” She hummed in agreement.

            “What about you? Where would you go?”

            Ororo bit back a harsh laugh. Here she thought she’d immediately choose to go back to her village, but now that he’d asked, she didn’t know. There was nothing back there anymore, not with her parents dead and the priests murdered and everyone else blindly lapping up anything the usurpers would give them. But if they were so ready to believe she was a sorceress and a demoness, maybe she had never had a place there to begin with.

            “Ororo?” She became aware of hands on her shoulders. “Are you all right?”

            She was trembling, and she swore under her breath at her weakness. “Yeah. I’m fine.” She cursed again at her clipped tone.

            “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

            “No. It’s not your fault. Just—stuff that happened before.”

            He gave a slow nod as he tried to understand. “Is there something else you would rather talk about?”

            She racked her brain for anything that wouldn’t remind her of her not-home, of the “mutant problem” all around them. “Tell me about the plants again,” she whispered, hardly trusting herself to speak any louder. “Tell me everything you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which it turns out Ororo is a bit more affected by what's happened than she lets on. Part of this is that it feels to me like she has been doing a lot of the supporting up until this point, and I wanted to give her a chance to be supported as well.


	7. Never Had a Friend Like Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, there was no pumpkin and no spell to turn a prince or princess into a beggar. No stroke of midnight to chase the festivities away, yet all things must end. Everything is as it was before. So now what?

            Over what seemed like—and may very well have been—hours, Kurt had gone through nearly every plant in the garden and Ororo had calmed down enough to let him talk about other subjects of interest. He’d told her about how Logan had always taken care of him and how Father Dietrich let him come into the chapel to learn about God even though some people said he shouldn’t, diving into every story he could think of that might keep both their spirits up.

            Eventually, he came around to Peter. “You know, I wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. Because of the uniform, and because I never heard him come in the door. I thought maybe he was an assassin, but then he was so terribly casual about the whole thing.”

            “Heh,” Ororo agreed. “Yeah, I didn’t know what to make of him myself. I was actually pretty sure I fell off the tower or something trying to get to you for a minute there.”

            Kurt’s brow scrunched with concern. “Does that happen often?”

            “Not for awhile.” She shrugged. “Maybe when I first learned. It’s not usually that bad, but…”

            “Okay…” he nodded, not quite believing her.

            “I’m messing with you.” It was a lie. She _had_ had a few nasty falls. But none to the level that he was probably imagining. “But actually, speaking of Peter…”

            Kurt’s eyes widened. “ _I left him in my room!_ Of course, I know that was the idea, but if Logan comes back and he is there instead of me…”

            Ororo hissed out a laugh through her nose. “Yeah. Guess we probably should go bail him out. Funny as it might be not to.”

            If it was possible, Kurt’s eyes widened even more. “ _If_ Logan _finds him?_ ” Ororo waved her hand in a gesture of “I’m teasing.”

            They stood up, and Ororo held out her hand to Kurt. “Shall we?”

            “Of course,” he took her hand, winding his three fingers through her five with some difficulty as they started back on their winding path through the woods.

* * *

 

            It seemed like it was always faster to go back to the palace than to get away. Of course, Kurt knew that couldn’t be possible, since he’d teleported out the first time. Then again, he’d only left twice so what did he really know about it? Ororo had laughed, “Guess you’ll have to figure that one out next time, huh?”

            Kurt rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn’t realized he’d said all that out loud. But she didn’t seem to think it was too weird a thing to say, so maybe he didn’t need to apologize for it.

            As soon as they passed back over the palace wall, everything fell silent. Kurt thought it was truly as if the air itself had changed, as if it could somehow snatch the sound away, down to the slightest breath. It took him a moment to realize Ororo was speaking to him again, and he missed her whispers as they were carried off in the dark.

            He tilted his head. “What was it?”

            “Do you mind if I take you back up to the window?” she asked again, a strangely cautious edge to her voice, like he might be uncomfortable with it even after he’d leapt from the window to her arms before. “I know you can probably climb,” she continued. “But I was hoping to have a few more seconds.”

            Oh. He nodded slowly, swallowing once. “Of course,” he said. “Of course you can.”

            He let her position him so it would be easy for her to carry him up while still not feeling awkward or uncomfortable for either of them. They were quiet for the ride up. When they reached the window, he uncurled from her slowly, climbing almost tentatively into the window as if everything was a fragile illusion and moving too fast might cause him to wake up and find it was all a dream.

            His heart thumped in his chest as he turned back to her. “If…” He felt his tail wrapping tight around his ankle. “If you would like to do this again sometime…”

            “Yeah.” She leaned in and pecked the tip of his nose. “I’d like that.”

            “Welp…” Came a voice from the other side of the room as Peter stretched out and popped his back. “I guess that’s my cue to head out. Mind if I keep the uniform?” Ororo’s eyes snapped over to his corner. Kurt suddenly realized the floor was very interesting right now, especially with his face heating up as it was. “Oh—woah.” Peter’s eyes widened. “Am I interrupting something? ‘Cause I can head out? Should I wait for you or are you two planning to—”

            “ _Peter_ ,” Ororo forced the sound out through clenched teeth as Kurt buried his face in his hands.

            “…Right.” Peter rubbed the back of his neck in a way that almost passed for contrite. Not that he didn’t feel at least a little bad. “So…I’m gonna head out. I’ll be waiting by the outside wall. Good luck.” He disappeared for about half a second. “Oh yeah, and ‘Ro? Can I borrow Kurt sometime? Not like—but obviously—I mean, if I’m gonna be the lump in the bed—” He shrugged. “Anyway, see ya, buddy!” And he was off.

            Ororo huffed and blew at a stray strand of hair. “He’s…a piece of work.”

            Kurt slowly peeked up from between his fingers, hardly daring to answer just yet, but nodding in agreement.

            “Hey,” she continued, reaching out to touch his forearm. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to meet him outside of…I can find another way.”

            God, he was sure that she could hear his hear his heart pounding. If he could hear it in his head… “I…um…I don’t know yet. Maybe sometime.” Just maybe not while he was making comments like that.

            “Okay.” She pulled him into a quick hug. “Until next time?”

            He smiled. “Until next time.”

            She pushed herself on the window, then flipped over with a wave. A spike of alarm shot up in him and Kurt rushed to the window sill to make sure she was okay. A moment later, she rose over the outer wall and was out of sight. He had to smile at that. Of course, she would be fine.

            Then he felt the energy draining out of him, as if it had been holding off just long enough to see her. Kurt stifled a yawn. The lump-in-the-bed trick may have worked this time, but Logan would definitely know something was up if he showed up in a daze that morning. He quickly changed and then hopped into bed. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he would dream of this night.

* * *

 

            The first thing Ororo did after she left was to find Peter and smack him upside the head. “Dumbass,” she said. “He doesn’t get it when you joke like that. You can’t just run your mouth without thinking.”

            For a moment, Peter stood, blatantly debating whether he should comment on the fact that she’d actually managed to hit him. That she’d stunned him into actual _silence_ almost startled even her. But then he caught himself. “Is he okay? We didn’t manage to scare him off, did we? ‘Cause if we did I can always go talk to him about that. Like—explain I didn’t actually think you two were gonna—”

            Ororo cut him off with a hand over his mouth. “I think he’s fine—this time. Just—try to think about what you’re about to say next time?”

            Peter nodded, throwing his hand up in a mock salute. “Yes ma’am.”

            Ororo rolled her eyes. “Don’t start with that. You’re clearly older than me.”

            “What, because of the hair? ‘Cause you know yours is white, right? But anyway, you’re the ringleader,” he grinned. “I’m just the lump in the bed. And possibly the distraction if we ever get that far. Actually—” He paused for a split second. “What _are_ we planning from here? Jailbreak? Sabotage? Some kind of star-crossed thingy that’s probably destined to end badly? Mix of all three?”

            There was probably a reference to something she was missing in there. But the truth was, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. Heck, if Peter hadn’t showed up, she didn’t even have a real plan beyond “show Kurt the ruins while it’s dark and no one expects him to be out.” Since she’d left her village, she hadn’t had the luxury of thinking about much beyond surviving from day to day. This whole thing had been a couple of impulsive decisions that just happened to end up here.

            “I want to get him out of there eventually,” she started. “Beyond that, I don’t know.” She didn’t know where they would go or what they would do once they got there. There was also Logan to consider. She’d seen earlier how he protected Kurt from the rest of the guards, but she hadn’t realized the depth of that attachment until they’d spoken in the garden. Even if he wanted to get out, he might not want to leave him behind, and that added a whole new series of factors to consider.

            “Well…actually…I might be able to help you there,” Peter spoke almost slowly for him, clearly apprehensive of what he was about to reveal.

            “Oh?” Her brow arched as she crossed her arms with a wry twist of her lip. “What do you have in mind?”

            He opened his mouth, then stopped, clamping his jaw shut and glancing around. “Actually—let’s not talk about it here. You got a minute?”

            She fixed him with a look.

            “Right. Welp, c’mon then.” He started off, then stopped and came back. “Sorry, kinda zipped off a second there.” He braced his arm against her neck and spine—she had a split second to wonder why—and then they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, I haven't forgotten this one simply because I've spent time working on the Challenge collection (which has now spawned a life of its own and barely adheres to the original prompts if at all, but oh, well). That said, I am excited because I had a bunch of ideas while writing this chapter.
> 
> I'm also realizing as I'm writing this that I haven't really used chapter summaries up until this point, but I liked writing that one, so...


	8. Into the Cave of Wonders

When he’d stopped moving. She pressed a hand over her stomach. What was with other mutants and nauseating methods of travel? Then again, it never seemed nauseating for them. Peter started and stopped like it was nothing, and Kurt never seemed woozy after his teleportations. For a split second, she wondered if Kurt felt anything like this when she’d taken him flying. But surely he would have said something, wouldn’t he?

“So what kind of place is this, anyway?” Ororo asked once she’d relocated her internal organs.

Peter started like he was going to hush her, and then remembered where he’d brought them. “Well, this guy—No, it’s kind of like—Actually, lemme back up to the beginning,” he said. “So, you might’ve guessed we’re not the only two like us out there. Well, not the only three, ‘cause, y’know, Kurt and all. But like, actually, there’s quite a few of us. And a lot of times, it doesn’t really end all that well, especially with Chancellor Kelley in power for like the past—”

Ororo folded her arms and stared at him.

“…Right,” he continued. “So things aren’t looking too good for the younger mutants, you know? Especially those with hard-to-control powers. So this guy comes along and he says, ‘You know what we really need? A school where these youngsters can learn that kinda thing.’ And then sometime after maybe teach the world not to fear us or something? Eh,” he shrugged. “Figure maybe at some point. But of course it’s not like they’re just gonna _let him_ make a school for the people they’re trying to snuff out, so what’s he do? He founds it underground. And that’s…about where we are.”

“So this guy just up and _makes a school_ underground.” Ororo felt her brow quirk up. “And it doesn’t…I don’t know…fall on everyone?”

“Hey, don’t ask me how he does it. I’m not sure how it stays up. It just does, I guess,” he grinned.

That didn’t sound too likely, Ororo thought. But then again, it wasn’t like she’d had a ton of time to study architecture in her exile, so why not have a school underground? “So how do you go finding out about this underground school?” She’d have thought she would’ve heard something about it in the time she’d been there if this guy was actually looking.

Peter shrugged. “He’s got his ways, I guess.” He clearly knew more about it than just that, and she fixed him with a look. “Sometimes he calls you, sometimes those of us who can get out more kinda clue him in. Though we have to be careful with that one. Sometimes…” He shook his head, lips tightening to a thin line.

A sharp pang struck her as she realized just what he meant. “You mean there are other mutants who’d sell this place out?” It wouldn’t surprise her, but it didn’t make it any better.

“You’d be surprised.” There was something ironic about his words, as if he was thinking the same thing she had.

“Hey, if me being here is something that could wreck things up, I can think of something else. We don’t have to use this option.”

“Nah,” he waved a hand. “I don’t think you two will be a problem. I mean, it’s not really gonna be _my_ final say anyway and I don’t even know what the Professor will think we should do. Like, I mean, you might decide to do something completely different, but—”

She held up a hand to cut him off. “Okay. So am I meeting him here? Is someone coming up or…”

He stood for a second, which seemed impossibly long for him. “Right. Be right back.” And he sped off, leaving Ororo to wonder what the heck just happened.

She had just started to consider that maybe this “Professor” guy had objected to harboring mutants with as visible mutations as Kurt had, or something else had gone wrong, when Peter returned.

“Okay, come on in,” he said, bracing her and zooming to what she could only assume was the entrance to the school. It didn’t look like much, a cropping of brush, bit of stone. You’d almost have to be looking for it to know what it was, and to be honest, she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to be looking at even as she entered.

* * *

 

The first thing she noticed was that it was small and dark. Already she knew this kind of setup wasn’t going to work for her in the long run. She’d need to get out, feel the air and the weather. If Kurt had gone stir crazy in the palace, he wouldn’t last long down here. He’d need to live more than that.

The second thing she noticed was that Peter was right. You really couldn’t tell how this thing stayed up. It was kind of like a cave, but it was also different somehow. She couldn’t place why. Maybe they'd done something to it to make it less like a cave and more like a shelter? Though she had to wonder, if this was supposed to be an underground school, where were all the students? She supposed they could be asleep right now, but she wasn’t exactly seeing a ton of room for them to practice using their abilities and whatnot.

But as they continued, it opened up into a larger area with seats and dim lighting. Well, dimmer than what she would have liked anyway. How would you have a school if people couldn’t see to read things? But then maybe this “Professor” guy had a different approach. Honestly, there were parts of this that still didn’t feel quite right to her. But she drew the energy to herself and found that the static still built under her fingers. If she needed to fight, she’d be fine for a little bit at least.

“You needn’t worry,” a warm voice called to her. “It’s really quite safe here. Unless you attempt to harm one of my students, that is.”

She frowned slightly. She hadn’t spoken out loud. The owner of that voice shouldn’t have known what she was thinking.

“My apologies, I hadn’t meant any offense. Your reaction is quite typical of someone journeying here for the first time, particularly in these times. Although, being a telepath does help with interpreting things correctly.” As he continued, she saw him come into view, and she could only assume he was the Professor that Peter had talked about. He wasn’t exactly old-looking, but he wasn’t exactly young either. He’d gone bald a long time ago, whether because of his mutation or stress. His eyes shone, but there was a weary and guarded edge to his gaze. She recognized the look of someone who’d fought a long battle and lost a lot of people in the process. He sat, spine erect and a patched and faded blanket thrown over his legs. She wasn’t sure how, but something about it pushed the pieces together in her mind. He couldn’t walk. She wondered how long ago that had happened.

Nearby, there was a small group of teens about Ororo’s age. A girl with long red hair and a haunted look in her eye sat closest to the Professor, but when she caught Ororo’s eye she gave a small smile. Next to her was a boy with bandages over his eyes, and she turned to him as though relaying something. He chewed his lip and nodded in response. Was she the same as the Professor, then?

On the Professor’s other side was a girl with a perturbed expression, who kept her hands close to her body and kept checking them like she thought they were going to catch fire. There was something oddly familiar about her, Ororo thought. Just then, she looked up, looking straight past Ororo, and smiled like she didn’t quite know how. “Peter!” she called at barely more than a whisper.

Peter moved to her and caught her in a tight embrace. “Hey, Wanda. How are you?” Ah. Siblings, then. That made sense.

The girl—Wanda—turned like she’d only just noticed Ororo, and then looked at the flooring as if she suddenly found it very interesting.

“She is doing much better since she has come here,” the Professor answered in her place. “And I believe she will continue to improve with time, now that she is around more of her kind, and treated as an equal.”

Peter nodded and sat down beside her.

“Now,” the man continued. “I don’t believe I’ve properly introduced myself. I am Charles Xavier, head professor of the underground school for gifted youngsters. These are but a few of my students: Scott,” the boy with the bandages, “Jean,” the girl who had smiled, “and Wanda. Of course, you have already met Peter. And you are?”

She hesitated. There was no real reason to trust this man. She’d only just met the guy, and though Peter had vouched for him, it wasn’t like she’d known _him_ that long either. On the other hand, there was no real reason _not_ to trust him, and it wasn’t like she had a ton of options for getting Kurt out otherwise. “Ororo,” she answered.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he smiled. “Now, Peter has told me you’ve got something of an interesting dilemma. If you would prefer not to discuss it in front of my students—”

“It’s…fine.” Ororo wasn’t entirely certain of that answer. After all, they could object to someone high-profile like Kurt joining them—sure, everyone else thought he had died in infancy, but if the palace staff hadn’t made good on that rumor, there was still a possibility that they saw some use for him, and that might worry them. That wasn’t even taking into consideration the Logan issue. But it would have to come up eventually and she figured there was no point in putting it off.

“All right then,” he nodded once, slowly. “Now, correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that your friend has lived within the walls of the Munich Palace due to a visible mutation, and is presumed dead by the outside world. And you would like to help him escape.”

Well, that was the gist of it. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Peter telling him about all these things so early on, but, she reminded herself, it was the best option she had at the time. It didn’t seem like he was judging her or trying to draw out more than necessary. Still, there was everything she’d learned about his relationship with Logan and Father Dietrich. If she wanted this to work, she’d have to be willing to trust.

Ororo took a breath, and started to explain.


End file.
